“Bring your questions, bring your friends and bring alittle money for lunch,” said Peggy Arbanas, co-director of thefestival and MSU international student adviser. Lunch featuresinternational cuisine for $5, served in the garden level of the MSUUnion; the festival itself is free.

“A lot of students love to wear ethnic and traditional clothing (from their countries of origin),” Arbanas said.

Students start off the festival with a style show,displaying their garb and showcasing past and present fashions of thecountry they come from. Throughout the rest of the afternoon, hundredsof performances, displays, demonstrations, crafts and games are planned.

In a previous year, Arbanas said, “Latin Americanstudents recreated a market with peppers and beans, stuff like that.”She also described a booth where a professor recreated his mother’skitchen in his home country, complete with spices and a thatched roof.

Approximatelyt 20 groups will perform entertainmentrepresentative of their country. Children are invited to have theirfaces painted and their “passports” filled out, on which they can havetheir name written in various languages.

For those looking to find international gifts or art, theGlobal Festival offers the World Gift Shop, a charity gift sale withthe proceeds going toward a scholarship presented by the CommunityVolunteers for International Programs. The scholarship helps spouses ofinternational students attend classes at MSU.

On-campus parking will be free, and visitors areencouraged to park at the parking ramp off Grand River, which is theclosest available lot to the MSU Union.

Arbanas also stresses that the festival is not politicalin nature. “We are trying to keep it a cultural event,” she said,adding that international students view it as “an opportunity to sharetheir culture.”

The festival is sponsored by the University ActivitiesBoard, Community Volunteers for International Programs and the Officefor International Students and Scholars.